


Rainy Day Inferno

by p0em



Series: Sixteen Candles [3]
Category: Never Let Me Go (2010), Zombieland (2009)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-11
Updated: 2016-08-11
Packaged: 2018-08-08 03:21:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7741414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/p0em/pseuds/p0em
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's raining fire, Tommy might or might not think it's Judgment Day for him, Columbus is trying to save them while zombies are getting killed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rainy Day Inferno

**Author's Note:**

> Part eleventh of the challenge "Sixteen Candles" : Rainy Day Inferno, featuring Tommy D. from Never Let Me Go and Columbus from Zombieland.

They’re in a supermarket when they hear the first explosion. They run to the exit and are paralysed when they see the fire raining from the sky.  
Hailsham is the first to react. He steps back until he hits the wall and he lets himself fall to the ground. He holds his head between his knees, hands and arms tangled around him. Columbus can hear him mumbling but he can’t understand what he’s saying.  
“Hailsham?”  
He isn’t sure if Hailsham has heard him. He approaches him slowly, as if Hailsham is a wild animal.  
“You alright?”  
Hailsham shakes his head, but Columbus doesn’t know if it’s an answer or simply Hailsham trying to keep out the rest of the world.  
Columbus kneels next to him and puts a hand on his shoulder. The touch seems to calm him down a little.  
“Come on. We have to find a shelter. Please.”  
Finally Hailsham looks up and Columbus is taken aback when he sees the tears on his face.  
“What the-”  
“It’s my fault. The fire... It’s for me. It’s my fault.”  
“What are you talking about?”  
Hailsham looks at him, grabs his shirt as if he’s afraid of being left. Columbus puts his fingers around his friend’s wrists, trying to calm him down.  
“I shouldn’t be living. I... I’m not human. I’ve no right to be there.”  
Of course Columbus knows the story of Hailsham. He knows how he was born and what for. He knows about other hundreds of people like him who were designed to “help” people rich enough to pay for them. He knows how Hailsham escaped after his first donation when zombies started to spread and how he flew to America, thinking it would be a free zone. He knows all of this because Hailsham told him. But he has never told him how he feels about his own condition.  
“Bullshit! Don’t you ever dare to think that! This fire is _not_ a biblical punishment.”  
“But-“  
“No! Listen to me!”  
And Hailsham shuts his mouth as Columbus grabs him by the shoulders and locks his gaze to his own.  
“There is no way it could be raining fire naturally. And this is not the work of some god. It must be a military operation to kill all zombies once and for all. So now, we’re going to find a shelter and wait for this to end. You hear me?”  
Hailsham nods hesitantly and gets up with Columbus’ help. They start to run. Hailsham looks at the sky and Columbus can tell how terrified he is by the look on his face. He really thinks this is for him, for all the others like him. This makes Columbus wish that all of the people who directed these operations had been turned into zombies and died horrible deaths. Columbus grabs Hailsham by the hand and makes him keep running. He can feel his fingers tighten around his own.  
It becomes less and less easier to run from the burning rain. It keeps falling and it has started a lot of fires. If they don’t find a place quickly...  
They finally go out from the commercial area and begin to pass in front of residential buildings, which are either too modern for Columbus’ idea or already on fire. Hailsham is running by his side, not asking where they’re going.  
They meet some zombies but they aren’t that threatening anymore. There is fire everywhere and the zombies aren’t smart enough to stay away from it.  
A few minutes later Columbus finds what he has had in mind.  
They almost don’t make it, and Columbus really thinks he’s going to die when a fireball falls not even an inch from him, but Hailsham pulls him against the door, which opens under their weight. Almost immediatly a zombie appears but Columus shoots it twice in the head.  
“Come.”  
He doesn’t even look at Hailsham, but he feels him taking his hand again.  
“This is a building from the fourties. There must be a bomb shelter.”  
Hailsham doesn’t say anything, simply nods. It takes them a couple of minutes to find the stairs leading down to the shelter. It mustn’t have been used since the World War II, but it would still be effective. Columbus locks the iron door behind them and turns on his torch.  
Hailsham is in the middle of the room.  
“Are you okay?”  
It’s a stupid question, of course Hailsham isn’t okay, but Columbus doesn’t know what else to say.  
Hailsham turns to look at him.  
“Why do you believe me so much? No one did before. They all thought I wasn’t normal.”  
Columbus sighs and walks up to him.  
“Because I don’t think you’re less human than me. Actually, you’re probably more. Remember the first time we met? You put yourself in danger in order to protect me, and you didn’t even know me. I’m sure not a lot of people would do this.”  
When Columbus stops, Hailsham is staring at him like he can’t really believe what he’s saying.  
“But I might think you’re really an idiot if you keep thinking that low about yourself. You’re the greatest person I’ve ever met,” Columbus says, thinking every word.  
Hailsham smiles, a little, uneasy smile, and Columbus drags him into a hug.  
“My stupid idiot.”  
Hailsham puts his arms around him, returning the embrace.  
“Thank you,” he murmurs after a while.  
And Columbus hides his own smile against Hailsham’s neck.


End file.
